By Mike Carey, Sonny Liew, Marc Hempel & various (Vertigo/Minx)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0371-9 (Minx) 978-1-84576-579-8 (Titan Books edition)
In 2007 DC comics began a bold experiment in building new markets: creating the Minx imprint. It was dedicated to producing comics material for the teen/young adult audience – especially the ever-elusive girl readership – that had embraced translated manga material, momentous global comics successes such as Maus and Persepolis and those abundant and prolific fantasy serials which produced such pop phenomena as Roswell High, Twilight and even Harry Potter. Sadly after only a dozen immensely impressive and decidedly different graphic novels Minx shut up shop in October 2008, markedly NOT citing publishing partner Random House’s failure to get the books onto the appropriate shelves of major bookstore chains as the reason.
Nevertheless the books that were published are still out there and most of them are well worth tracking down – either in the US originals or British editions published by Titan Books.
My particular favourite remains the second release, a magnificently beguiling and engaging monochrome, cross-cultural romantic martial arts melange by writer Mike Carey (X-Men Legacy, Lucifer, Hellblazer, Crossing Midnight) and artists Sonny Liew (Malinky Robot, The Shadow Hero, Wonderland, Sense and Sensibility, Doctor Fate) & Marc Hempel (Blood of Dracula, Mars, Jonny Quest, The Sandman, Breathtaker).
The all-star trio’s gloriously offbeat and upbeat Vertigo miniseries My Faith in Frankie is generally regarded as prototype for the Minx model, and that quirky quixotic vivacity is in full flower in this tale of feisty yet desperately dutiful Korean-American teen Jen “Dixie” Dik Seong who channels her suppressed aggression into hapkido and her blossoming crush on hunky Adam into daydreaming, clumsiness and humiliating imbecility…
A total klutz in real life, Dixie is a demon in martial arts combat, but as her best friend and dojo-mate Avril is keenly aware, the flummoxed lass’s poor head is stuck in the clouds nowadays. It’s hard enough for Dixie to juggle school, her quick-fire temper, precious heritage and loving-but-generally clueless parents with burgeoning hormones and astoundingly annoying younger brothers piling on pressure without the added distraction of an infatuation with a rich, self-absorbed white boy who is also her only serious rival in the upcoming National Hapkido Tournament.
After a chance encounter with mouthy street punks and local bad boy Dillinger, Dixie blows all her savings and the Tournament entrance fee (which her father gave her) on an ancient warrior statue for Adam, sparking a huge fight with Avril but which also actually succeeds in getting the boy to notice her. So much so, in fact, that he wants her advice in getting snooty babe Megan to go out with him…
When Dixie discovers a business loan for her father from traditional Korean bankers depends on her performance in the tournament, the furious, lovelorn lass is forced to battle for a wild-card place in the event by joining a knockout “Street Sweep Competition” against half the kids in Los Angeles – including dire and dangerous Dillinger. Moreover, Adam has finally got into Megan’s good books – and other places – by re-gifting Dixie’s statue to the most popular girl in school…
Re-Gifters is a bright, witty, sublimely funny and intriguing coming of age comedy following all the rules of the romance genre but still able to inject a vast amount of novelty and character individuality into the mix: a perfect vehicle for attracting new young readers with no abiding interest in outlandish power-fantasies or vicarious vengeance-gratification.
Track this down for a genuinely different kind of comic book – but do it before some hack movie producer turns the tale into just another teen rom-com.
© 2007 Mike Carey, Sonny Liew & Marc Hempel. All rights reserved.